Croatian 1. Division winners Dinamo Zagreb will clash with Croatia Cup winner Hajduk Split on Saturday in the Croatia Super Cup to kick off the brand-new season.
Dinamo Zagreb stormed to the 1. Division title last season with 79 points from 36 fixtures. Ante Cacic lead Dinamo to the title and was the third manager to take charge of the club during the 2021-22 campaign.
Pripreme u Sloveniji ⚽️💪🏻💙😎Dinamo - Shkendija 3:0Dinamo - Nafta 1903 3:0Dinamo - Spartak Trnava 3:3#dinamozagreb📷 Matija Habljak/Pixsell pic.twitter.com/dsPeXjltGA— GNK Dinamo (@gnkdinamo) July 2, 2022
Pripreme u Sloveniji ⚽️💪🏻💙😎Dinamo - Shkendija 3:0Dinamo - Nafta 1903 3:0Dinamo - Spartak Trnava 3:3#dinamozagreb📷 Matija Habljak/Pixsell pic.twitter.com/dsPeXjltGA
Hajduk Split finished the 1. Division season in second place and seven points off of first-place Dinamo Zagreb. Split may have finished second in the league table, but they won the Croatia Cup Final. Hajduk Split won the final 3-1 against Rijeka.
Coincidentally, these teams played on the final day of the 1. Division season with Dinamo Zagreb posting a 3-1 win. The last six matches between these teams were split down the middle. Dinamo Zagreb posted a record of 2W-2D-2L versus Hajduk Split.
Just one of the last six matches between these sides finished with over 2.5 goals scored. The Croatia Super Cup is likely to finish with under 2.5 goals this season in a low-scoring affair between these rivals.
Ante Cacic will lead Dinamo Zagreb into the new season. He joined the club back in April and got them over the line in the title fight.
Dinamo Zagreb have worked hard to strengthen the team this offseason. Josip Drmic, Robert Ljubicic, Bosko Stualo, and Marko Brkljaca have all joined the team.
Defender Ivo Pinto left the club this offseason along with midfielder Iyayi Atiemwen. Both departures will be difficult to replace.
Hajduk Split’s big transfer signing this offseason is goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic after a loan last season. The new goalkeeper should get plenty of playing time this season. Kalinic could even be in line to start versus Dinamo Zagreb.
Miroslav Orsic is Dinamo’s top player in the final third. The striker, who was on the radar of bigger clubs across Europe not long ago, scored 20 goals in 50 matches in all competitions last season. Orsic could be paired with new signing Drmic in the Zagreb attack.
Dinamo Zagreb have not started their season yet. Zagreb will start the UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round. Hajduk Split have not started their season either. They will play in the UEFA Europa Conference League beginning in August.
Zagreb won the last meeting between these sides and on paper, have the strong team. The Croatia Super Cup should be won by Dinamo Zagreb with a 2-0 final score.